Aftershock
by Headhunter4544
Summary: Dated 1 year after the events of the Nighthowler case. Nick and Judy have taken their relationship beyond friendship and are now living together. But the dark days are not


**Hey guys! So firstly this story is a team effort with my co-author ATG Trixx. He is a great guy and is the creator behind the main plot and idea of this story. He pitched me this story and gave the chance to work on it with him and I jumped at the chance. All credit goes to him. We both hope you all enjoy this story.**

This isn't fair… he thought.

Nick was standing on the slippery edge; one wrong move and they'd be dead. The rain down-poured from the storm above.

What am I talking about? He thought, We're already dead.

In front of them were the most dangerous criminals, probably in the world, one of them, the leader, being a professional hitman. They had their weapons ready, ready to fire at their choice of moment. Their pray was in sight, cornered. They had them.

Nick Wilde, ex-con artist, a hustler, was on the verge of tears. This would be the last night he'd ever be with Judy again, his friend, his partner, his mate. Tonight was supposed to be our anniversary, he thought. Why did this have to happen? He fought the urge to cry. Not a very honorable death, he thought darkly.

Before joining the ZPD, he'd never of thought he'd actually feel this way. Earlier in his life, he was intent on pushing everyone who got too close away. Spare the pain.

Until Judy.

She reached his soul, made him happier just by being in the same room. He remembered the first time he and Judy hinted their feelings for each other. The Rain Forest District, on the sky tram, in the rain; kind of like now. The thought calmed him a bit. Excluding the tram and not being on the verge of a painful, definite death, it was almost exactly as the first time they revealed their feelings.

He took a look back at the cliff face. He couldn't see the ground below, but he already knew what waited at the bottom; a certain death. How did we- no, I!- mess up so bad? He wouldn't dare blame Judy. It was simple! Get in, get information, get out. He hated himself for the situation. Not as simple as it sounded.

"What do we do, Slick..?" Judy asked, her injury almost making her inaudible. Nick took the wound as being his fault, too. He didn't have an answer. Well he did; Nothing. He'd decided against telling the love of his life that they were going to die. "I don't know…"

"It appears your game is over, you two." The leader had his weapon aimed squarely at them. They had the duo captured. This was the end.

Or was it?

No! Without thinking, Nick grabbed Judy, and dived backwards off the edge, keeping her on top of him as they fell backwards into the darkness. This better work! his brain screamed. He also said the three syllable sentence that Judy loved to hear, before they were falling too fast for the wind to take his voice away.

"I love you…"

After he spoke, Judy's scream was quickly lost as they fell further into the darkness.

Nick and Judy's home: One week earlier…

Nick awoke to what was possibly his least favorite sound in the world, his alarm going off. A year ago he would've rolled over and destroyed anything that woke him up before noon. But the adorable bunny snuggled into his chest made every moment of lost sleep worth it. She had a very different view on their alarm clock. It was the sound that meant it was another day to make the world a better place.

She would lunge off of Nick and out of bed ready to start the day (at what Nick would call an ungodly hour) as if it was her first. That is exactly what she did. As Nick groaned, her eyes shot open, and before Nick could silence the small orange machine, she was already getting her uniform ready for the day ahead.

"If I didn't know better, Carrots, I'd say being a cop was your lifelong dream or something," Nick said in a sarcastic tone, sitting up in bed.

"You could say that," Judy said giving Nick a little wink. She always enjoyed the vulpine company.

Judy laid out both her and Nick's uniform before getting herself a towel for her morning shower. Nick sat on the bed in his boxers and combed out his tail to get out the knots he had obtained over the night. Like all foxes, he took great pride in his tail.

As he did so, he watched Judy wiggle her tail as she entered the bathroom to shower. Nick began to listen to her sing; it was like his own personal little show every morning to listen to her sing in the shower. Once he was done with his attention to his tail, he got up and started the coffee pot for the morning. Nick was as addicted to coffee as Judy was to being a cop. If he skipped it in the morning he'd be back asleep by Bogo's morning briefing, an event he wanted to avoid having, again.

As he waited for the sacred liquid to brew he walked over to where Judy had laid out his uniform. He examined the shining gold badge that rested on the left breast of the uniform. It wasn't so long ago that he was on the other side of the law. He went from con-artist to cop-and the biggest score he ever landed?- the affection of his amazing bunny girlfriend. He still remembered the day he told her that he loved her.

"You know, Fluff," he had said. They were in the train car together, getting ready to go back to Zootopia from the academy. "What you said about other mammals not being able to call a rabbit cute," he paused and looked at her eyes full on. "Doesn't apply to me." Judy's heart had skipped more than just one beat that day. She understood what Nick had meant. She spilled her contained feelings within her heart to him.

This uniform means much more than just being a cop, Nick just thought. It means I won my rabbit.

Nick heard the coffee pot stop. Within seconds, he had a mug filled with the liquid. He drank the still-too-hot-but-I-don't-care coffee. He immediately perked up. How does Judy do it? he thought. She never drinks coffee, but she's always hyped up in the mornings.

Nick chuckled to himself. It's the job.

He had just drank his coffee as Judy stepped out into the hall in her crisp, unwrinkled uniform. "Hurry up in there," she teased. "Just because the week is ending doesn't mean you should start slacking off."

"Who said I wasn't slacking off before today?" he argued.

Nick grabbed his uniform off of the bed and started for the bathroom. He quickly showered and dressed in his uniform. He looked at himself in the mirror after stepping out of the shower. Same fox, different view.

Stepping into the hall, he saw Judy waiting at the door.

"Ready to go, Slick?"

"Hang on, I need more coffee."

She scoffed, "How do you stand the stuff?"

Nick smirked. Dare I?

"I need the energy for what you put me through everyday."

Judy slugged his arm. "Ow. Geez."

"That oughta teach you!" she teased. "Now use your travel cup. We need to go!"

Nick put the rest of the coffee into his traveling cup. He grabbed his sunglasses on the way out the door.

Their apartment was conveniently located only a few miles from Precinct One. They didn't have a car because everything they needed was only a short walk away. They walked down the street. There was one problem with this place. Judy and Nick both agreed on it; it was too noisy. They eventually grew tolerant of it, but it still slightly bothered them.

"So, Carrots," Nick finally said. "What do you think today holds for us?" A hint of sarcastic eagerness was in his voice.

Judy laughed and looked at him. "Are you doubting your job already?"

Nick couldn't argue. He liked his job. He'd like it a lot more if it wasn't so damn boring. Ever since the Night Howler Case, very few assignments held a great promise. One or two did stand out, but other than that…

"Well let's see how you feel if we get assigned...parking duty." Nick said slyly.

Judy scowled at him. "That's not funny."

Nick still teased her about it. When Judy was just a rookie cop, she was given the worst of all grunt work. "You're right," he said. "Its hilarious!"

Judy growled, still barely able to hold back a giggle.

"You know you love me," he said.

"Do I know that? Yes, Yes I do."

They had reached the precinct a few minutes later. Officers were walking all around the main floor, a swarm of black and blue.

Clawhauser was sitting at his desk, as usual. He happily greeted them like he does everyday.

"Hello, Officer Hopp. Officer Wilde." Ben never got bored of his job. All he needed to do was greet visitors, file reports, and...eat.

"And hello to you, Ben," Judy kindly said.

"Bogo's about to give today's assignments in the bullpen, so I'd suggest you hurry!" Clawhauser said.

Judy and Nick walked to the bullpen, where they would get today's assignment from Chief Bogo. They opened the door to the chaos inside. The officers were all talking or messing around in some way. Nick and Judy were probably the only mammals in the room that weren't acting ballistic. Nick and Judy casually walked to their usual spot in the front of the room. They sat down and listened to the chaos around them.

The noise halted as Bogo suddenly entered the room. The sound of chairs scratching the floor filled the room. Everyone was now at attention.

"Good morning everybody," Bogo said gruffly.

Sounds like someone isn't having a good morning, Nick snickered.

Bogo was in a very serious mood today. He had dark lines under his eyes. He wore a frown that spoke one sentence: Don't get out of line. No one did

"First off," he abruptly said, "I want teams 4-8 to go on their daily patrols." Teams were assigned numbers based on efficiency, Nick and Judy being number one.

Teams four, five, six, seven, and eight got up and left, leaving only Judy and Nick and the other two teams. They all looked at each other; teams were usually called in order. Why were they being briefed last?

"As for you six…" Bogo said mysteriously.

Why does it seem today is about to get a hell of a lot worse? Nick asked himself nervously.


End file.
